US veterans had protested in Washington last Sunday in fear that their benefits might be affected if no agreement would be reached to end the partial shutdown of the government.

Europe's clean energy investment had fallen 14% after cheaper US natural gas had lured more investment, said a London-based research firm.

Angola would be imposing a 10% tax on oil firms operating in the country. Angola, the second largest oil producer in Africa, would levy a consumption tax on oil companies.

The stocks of Australia and New Zealand fell as the deadline to settle debt for the United States looms near, said a report from Bloomberg.

The Japanese Yen had increased versus all its major peers as no progress was seen between US President Barack Obama and the House Republicans to end the US shutdown.

The temporary increase of the food stamp program would end by the end of this month. The temporary stimulus for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) would expire by the end of the month.

US Senators struggled to end the partial government shutdown as the nation's deadline on incurring a default on debt draws near, said a Reuters report.

The Bank of Korea recently announced a USD5.4 billion currency swap deal with the United Arab Emirates for a period of three years.

Royal Mail shares, criticized to be valued too low, had netted hefty profits for its investors. The Abu Dhabi and Kuwaiti sovereign wealth funds have respectively reported a profit of USD30 million each from their investments made in the recently sold UK Royal Mail.

Air France-KLM, a top shareholder in Italy’s Alitalia, did not make a clear position regarding a proposed capital increase to save the near-bankrupt air carrier.